Hello educators! You have reached the Teacher Pages of the Air Defenders web site. These pages are specifically designed to help both formal and non-formal educators incorporate the Air Defenders program into their curriculum. In this section you can:
- View examples of the curriculum;
- Learn how to incorporate the kid’s web site into your curriculum,
- Sample the Air Defenders songs and download the lyrics,
- Order your own Air Defenders kit,
- Find out who the Wisconsin Environmental Health Association is, and what they do, and
- Send feedback to us regarding the Air Defenders program
Air Defenders is a community educational resource on open burning, air quality and respiratory health, developed by the Wisconsin Environmental Health Association in partnership with the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources. It’s designed to help health officials and other community educators, as well as teachers, create fun and valuable hands-on classroom lessons for students. The program evolved after county health officials in rural Wisconsin noticed a dramatic increase in the number of asthma cases in rural children; officials have attributed this increase to the toxic emissions from open burning and poor air quality.
“Air Defenders: The Quest for Clean Air” is an interdisciplinary, multi-media educational program and web site for students 10 years of age and up. Students earn their Air Defender badge while pursuing their quest to clean the air and protect community health.
Air Defenders learn through activities in science, health education, and music lessons that meet U.S. and Wisconsin academic standards. These lessons develop critical thinking with a focus on finding solutions for home and farm waste disposal, exploring the physics and chemistry of waste incineration and open burning, and on the related issues of air quality and human respiratory health.
What is the Air Defenders Educator's Kit
The Air Defenders Educator's Kit gives you the resources you need to add information about open burning, air quality and respiratory health to your curriculum. Your students will go through rigorous training with hopes of someday becoming an Air Defender. Everything you need is in the kit.
What's in the Air Defenders Educator's Kit
All materials for the Air Defenders Educator's Kit are housed in a brief case-style box that is both stylish and loaded with the materials you'll need to present information about open burning, air quality, and respiratory health to your students.
(1) Introduction to the Air Defenders brochure, which includes information about the contents of the kit case, technical requirements for accessing the materials, and system requirements for running the Air Defenders Interactive Educational Game.
(2) CDs.
-One CD contains music by and for Air Defenders along with supplemental Music education materials (in PDF format).
-One CD contains the Air Defenders Interactive Educational Game and supplemental education materials (in PDF format).
(1) VHS Videocassette featuring the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources short musical "Give Burn Barrels The Boot".
(3) Posters that not only look cool but offer valuable information about air pollution.
-One poster is promotional and features the Air Defenders characters in vibrant, kid-friendly colors.
-Another poster explains and illustrates how air pollution triggers asthma and offers lots of additional scientific information.
-The last poster illustrates and gives information about the chemicals released when open burning occurs and also offers loads of information.
(1) Music Teachers Guide which gives you all of the Air Defenders sheet music, lyrics, and a guide to the tracks on the music CD.
(1) Pamphlet entitled "Give Burn Barrels The Boot". This pamphlet is chock full of information and activities you can share with your class.
Also included are pamphlets and brochures from the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources and the federal Environmental Protection Agency about Wisconsin fire laws and regulations, frequently asked questions about open burning, information about burn barrels, health hazards of burning leaves and ozone educational materials with an Air Quality Index.
